Teaching Schedule

Privates and Corporate Classes/ Events by Appointment only.
Email mobility.fitness.pilates@gmail.com.

Studio base: Pilates Passion (Bukit Timah Plaza) & Ilies Soma (Holland Village) 

Physio base: Physio Dynamics @ TripleOne Somerset

Home visits available.
For Guild House classes, please liaise directly with the Sports Administrator. 

Teaching group classes at:

Mondays

6pm | Reformer Starter (Virgin Active, DUO Galleria)

7.15pm | Reformer Beginner
-- slight changes for Oct-Nov '19, then resume back--

Tuesdays

12nn | Reformer Intermediate (Virgin Active, DUO Galleria)

Thursdays

7.30am | Reformer Classical (Virgin Active, Holland Village)

8.30am | Reformer Intermediate

Fridays

12.15pm | Reformer Beginner (Virgin Active, Marina One)

1.10pm | Reformer Intermediate

Saturdays
11am | Pilates: Core Strength (NUSS Mandalay Guild House)
12nn | Pilates (Back to Basics)

Sundays 

9am | Pilates: Core Strength (NUSS Kent Ridge Guild House)

so... what is Pilates?

I had a really interesting conversation with someone last night- he has been practicing Pilates (forever) to complement his sport in skating. He took the plunge to do a reformer training (somewhere) but was rather disappointed how information was watered down (or taken too simply).

so... what is Pilates?
and what does it offer you as a practitioner?

I fell in love with Pilates at first attempt (like quite literally). It was logical, and highly functional. As a teacher/instructor of this method for more than 7 years, I am still awed by this revolutionary method. I guess it's also because our bodies are (DAMN) amazing, how it naturally moves, and heals.

so... what is Pilates?

I would say the concept itself is foundation to many other forms of training modalities, its essence and intention (the system) creates balance for effective strengthening and efficiency of movement. I mentioned during the event last Saturday that as a sports person, I prefer some form of rigidity rather than too much flexibility in my body. (That being said, split was never on my to do list)

I prioritize (and largely believe in) integrated mobility and muscular elasticity. These came about from my background of trainings. I coined integrated mobility to refer to the ability (of a joint that is right in its place) to move with good range of motion without the risk of injury- a little more to feel good in the body, not less to feel outright stiff. Muscular elasticity assimilates that of a spring that recoils and recycles energy in the entire system. This is possible because of the intention to facilitate the gliding of tissues in the body and tap on the stretch-reflex properties of muscles that create movement.

and what has it done for me as a practitioner?

I can touch my toes? NO, haha. That's part of the process. I think the best takeaway for me is that I maintain a form of homeostasis in my body, when something gets out of order, I feel it right away and I can address it. I am very much aware of my body asI hit the ground when running (it's remarkable how you feel your steps recycle on its own - like a bicycle), and when I glide through the water when I swim. I think being able to do that has made sports enjoyable for me.

My hope for people out there is for them to regain that joy in their activities. J

A renewed mind

I taught my first class today after almost a month of retreat to Boulder to recharge, and learn from the teacher mentor, Pat.

I was hoping for some time to sit myself down and do class plans on how I would integrate concepts into my current classes. That didn't materialize of course, of all things I had to do (or chose to do)- I shouldn't give myself excuses. I was playing out ideas in my mind, with no skeleton program in my head, just a bag of exercises. How would I inject that life into classes?

Although I'm not feeling like I just got hit with a hard rock, I'm certainly not 100% present in my head space. I don't know how I'd thought my class was at 12.15pm instead of noon! Thankfully I am usually early otherwise... DEAD. But because of that, I was focused not to complicate things, and just work on the fundamentals - keeping simple. I listened to my own words (I tried to), I injected in concepts (as Pat taught) to exercises they already knew and linked the pieces together for them. I stayed on to help Ailin understand better then essence of footwork - she didn't feel her knees as she usually did (she has hereditary osteoarthritic knees) and when she focused on drawing in from the hip joints, she felt the work coming from her deep core. 😍

Back to the usual Pilates practice with my mates every Tuesday. We did exercises on the chair. It feels like Pat's voice was still resounding in my head, reminding me how the body should be moving, and logically making sense why I am feeling that way. It clicked. I'm happy. I think many times that heartfelt sense of achievement and understanding show. I think my friends know. I think I say it too much sometimes.

Sometimes you can't hide joy. I am grateful, and excited at the same time. What more will it unveil? It's only the beginning, my gosh. Suddenly 7 years of teaching Pilates doesn't count at all.... The scientist in me says, "keep questioning". That's the beauty of this work. ♡

Sharing is Loving

I missed "International Pilates Day" while on vacation.

But.. every day can be "Pilates Day". Every day we celebrate the opportunity to be able to give while we can, learn while we can, and love while we can. I consider myself one of the few super blessed- to be able to do work that I enjoy which challenges me in many aspects, and one that takes out the element in me that would otherwise be subdued (due to my personality trait).

I am grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with Decathlon to conduct a workshop last night at their City Square Mall branch. They sponsored the door gift that included the props that I had selected for the class. Participants were surprised and delighted to receive their goodybags!

Thank you all who made time to come, and hope everyone took away ideas on how to use these really useful and portable props at home and in their offices!!

Finding peace in the mountains

Thankful for a weekend of retreat into the (tropical) mountain teehee.

March has concluded and April is about to unfold. There were moments when there were too many thoughts, and also times when the mind just feels completely blank. I guess that happens to everyone. Well, it did give me an opportunity to reflect on my life at this point in time.

This is the second time I'm scaling Gunung Lambak- and we did 2 circuits up and down again. As before, we took the raw climbing route the second time again... Felt like a rock climbing + jungle adventure, getting on my hands and taking huge giant steps up. I can't say it got any easier, but surely we did shave off 1/3 of the time we took previously from 6h to 4h.

  

Although I haven't ran a lot recently as compared to the same period last year... because this half of the year I'm preparing for multisport events vs last year I was dedicated to train for my first trail 42km... I must say the cross trainings I've had in the first quarter of this year have prepped my joints well for the ROM I needed for my adventures! (AHA, perspectives)  

As a trainer, I realize for sure, giving my joints the right preparation, stimulus and load they require helped me to take on my activities with more ease (no one said it would be easy anyway!) When I think back about the clients under my charge, that's also my hope for them- to be able to enjoy their hobbies, take on their personal adventures, perform in their sports knowing that they have PREPARED for it. Of course, no one can predict an injury, but better prepared joints have shown to have greater recovery rates.

Most people are afraid of down slopes because they feel that would hurt their joints (more specifically their knees) but they fail to realize the truth is our joints/bodies are meant to move. The most obvious reason for joint pains, other than being clinically diagnosed of bone growth/ arthritis, is that our muscles are not performing their functions on our bones to move it.

I'd posted earlier on my vision as a trainer for my clients. I thought about it on my trails. I'm glad I had this thought/ goal/ mission at the back of my head. It really sets the tone of the structure of your programs for your charges. I never wanted them to fear, fear movement? WHY? I want to empower them with movement. That's possibly the best gift I can give them in my journey as a teacher - to find their own journey. Everyone's journey is different, we need to respect that.

We all have a destination, everyone do Pilates for their own personal reasons. It could be flexibility and mobility, a less impact form of strength training, cross training for sports etc. I respect that. My clients who have stayed with me for years are always amazed how revisiting basic exercises can add a new dimension of challenges. More specifically, my utmost priority is to address your needs (especially if you have an injury- for me to get you out of pain zone as quickly as possible; if you are training for a sporting event, for me to get your joints organized, and give you eccentric strength capacity to take load from your trainings out there..).. Understanding, for me is more important to your learning. Fancy exercises are secondary.

I think at the end of the day, life is just like climbing a mountain or performing a sport. It may seem like a common destination/ stroke, but if it was tracked very specifically by a sensor, there's no one path that is the same for everyone, likewise, the most successful shot has the most variability.

I choose my teachers very wisely because I take charge of my education and understanding is very important for me to impart to people I train. I find that these days people do not take charge of their own journeys and hardly ever appreciate the rigor of their sporting endeavors to take care of their bodies. If there was anything to take away, we need to respect ourselves for where we are now and chart our own successes, with the right resources.